GM to Build Four Plants in China by 2015

GM plans to build four new facilities in China by 2015 to reach a product capacity by 30% to 5 million vehicles annually.

GM aims at grabbing more market share in the luxury and SUV segments and for this it will build four new assembly plants and four powertrain plants. The company will add 6,000 jobs in the region, according to Bob Socia, head of GM China. GM and its JV partners will invest $11 billion in China by 2016.

“It could very well happen,” Socia told reporters after a press conference near the Shanghai auto show. “I’m not sharing any plans with you, but we try to keep open as to what makes sense. … There’s no reason why we can’t be exporting to the states.”

Social added that GM’s plants in China are running at full capacity and that the automaker is adding these plants to keep up with increased demand. Last year the US automaker’s sales in China increased 11% to 2.8 million vehicles. GM will also increase its exports from China to 130,000 units in 2013 and to 300,000 units in 2015 from 77,000 units in 2012. By 2017 the SAIC-GM-Wuling and the Shanghai-GM joint ventures will add in China 1,000 dealerships from the current 700 dealers.